Chicken and Rice and Variations - Lunch Prep

Eventually the kids got bored with ham sandwiches for lunch. Fair enough bro. Anywho the request was made for chicken and rice for lunch. To avoid the kids getting sick of this too I make variations with the flavours, it is no extra work. This all happens in the oven and the rice cooker and apart from shredding the chicken, is only about 20 minutes work. 

The premise is the same to how I prepare chicken for tacos - a bed of veg, some aromatics, seasoned chicken on top. Roast, shred, combine with the veg and cooking juices. About half of the cooking juices goes into the rice too. Target sell a chicken shredder for about $5. If you don't have that, just bash the chicken up with a whisk - works a treat. 

This recipe makes enough for 9 meals.

1kg chicken thigh fillets

Taco seasoning (I make my own, its heaps easy)

1 onion sliced

Half a tub of cherry tomatoes sliced

1 chorizo diced or a few slices of bacon

Coriander stalks and leaves (optional)

4 cloves garlic sliced thinly

1 lime sliced in half

2 bay leaves

1 capsicum sliced in small pieces

Vegetable oil

2 cups rice

1 heaped tsp chicken stock powder

Pre-heat the oven to 180C

Line a baking tray with baking paper. This is easier if you wet the tray first then place down the paper - it makes it stick. Also makes cleaning up easier. Cover the tray in the onion, tomato, capsicum, chorizo, garlic, bay leaves, squeeze the lime over and place the limes on the tray too.

Season the chicken with the taco seasoning and coat with oil. Place on top of the veg tray. Roast for an hour or until the chicken starts to be able to be pulled apart. Baste it if you can be bothered. 

Cook the washed rice with a heaped teaspoon of chicken stock powder. Add some washed/cooked black beans toward the end if you feel like it.

When ready, remove from the oven, take out the bay leaf, squeeze the roasted lime onto the tray then discard. Allow to rest for a bit. Pour half of the cooking juices and half of the veg into the rice and mix through. Shred the chicken and mix with the remaining veg mixture. Portion rice and meat into lunch things, place in the fridge for future use.

Variations:

Curry Red/Green/Yellow - use jar sauce, coat the meat as before, change the veg to suit your needs. Maybe cook the rice with coconut milk, season with a little soy sauce, fish sauce, lime and sugar.

Jamaican: Jerk seasoning is rad. Get some of that. Use black beans in the rice too

Spanish: Season the chicken with salt/pepper, tomato paste, paprika and cumin. Put some sliced black olives in the rice toward the end

Japanese: Miso seasoning with some lime juice, honey and sesame oil

Portugeeeeezer: I actually haven't done this but, I'd just buy some Nando's seasoning - I am sure it would be ace